What's under my hood? Well I'll tellya.No, not really.But I will confess that I probably know more than some guys even....

You see, my father was a civil service mechanic. He worked for the United States Government for nearly 35 years. And he was good. He even had such a good reputation at his career that he was written and called upon from the state of Colorado when we lived in Nebraska. That's how we ended up in Colorado in the early 50's and that's the reason I grew up there. Colorado requested his skills!!!

But, this is not what I'm going to list for my thirteen this week. But hold tight...I AM going to list things my father taught me while working under the many many hoods of government vehicles to keep them in tip-top shape!!

1] I can take off the oil filter and oil pan from under my car, drain it, change the filter and replace with new, clean oil.

2] I know the difference between a ratchet and an open end wrench. And I can pick up the size called for when assisting too, by just looking at it; not having to fumble through the many tools and pick out the wrong size many times before finding the one asked for...for instance, a 5/8's open end wrench? Okay...you got it...here y'go!! See? Toldya...fast.

3] I can and I HAVE replaced a timing chain! It's simple. Take off the old worn one, put on the new one and align the notches on the timing chain [sometimes it's a belt, other times it actually IS a chain] on the motor frame. Speaking of belts...I can replace a multitude of belts...for the radiator and steering and AC belts.

4] I could probably work in a pit stop on a race track. I can change a tire in nothing flat [pun here! LOL]

5] I can and have used air wrenches too while changing tires. And after losing my father to age...I miss the sound!!

6] I can change a spark plug. I can also adjust the width [called gap] between the spark plug and the flange with the handy dandy spark plug tool.

7] I know when the differential is going bad. Or if a rear end is going out. Just by sound and vibration.

8] I can whip off an old windshield wiper and replace with no problem.

9] I can replace an old wheel hub with a new 'mag wheel' or pin stripe a car. [I used to go to Erie Colorado and drag race with my brother---loved it---guess you could say dolls and playing house never interested me]

10] Shhhhhh, don't tell anyone, but I can hot wire a car!! [Thanks to my brother on this aspect!]

11] I can take out the carburetor and replace it.

12] I know what a master cylinder is. And I can time pistons to fire in sync.

13] When the car's brakes are sluggish, I can bleed the air out of the brakes too and get the brake pedal adjusted. [there is a little piece that juts out...here is where you work on the air in the brake line...and my dad called it a 'tit'...which still today makes me giggle!]

BONUS: I love getting my hands greasy and dirty by working on cars. My dream since childhood has always been to either buy a car kit and build an auto from scratch, or even more so, come into possession of an old Model T and 'soup' it up with a 409 engine and test drive it on the race track!

The tropical storm that hit near Galveston yesterday is long inland now, our son said quite a lot of rain, some wind, but nothing too devastating. He sent me some photos today, but I haven't had time to upload them and view them yet. So, this Wednesday morning, bright and early, the two of us went to the beach on Padre Island....access road 4 this time. And above is a collage of what we saw and did afterward [my intentions all along of course]...

Mostly photos of the cloud cover this morning with the sun finally peaking through and then making the surf glisten. Several photos are of sea gulls and sea life. I only found one complete shell that wasn't broken [the city comes in nightly and sweeps up the seaweed, breaking all the shells for us 'combers'.] The shell is 4th from the left/top row. It almost looks ray like...as in sting ray. I haven't cleaned it yet so the photo is kinda fuzzy as it's one taken off the cell phone. After we walked the beach and watched the birds - also one has a helicopter flying over - we ended up stopping and a tourist trap curio shoppe. This is one of my favorite stops when on the island and I'm carrying money with me. LOL Today was no different. I had in mind glass dolphins. Which I found one...on sale!! Regularly $14.99 for only $3.49!!! It's a large one at that. And a different 'pose' as ones I have. The flowers in these photos are red and pink oleanders that are near where we parked the car in the parking lot. The shoppe is called "Padre Islander". We then, went to the 2nd favorite shop, the Ocean Treasures...nothing there, so came home and I loaded the photos to the computer off the phone and made this collage for my visitors.

Later in the day I made some of my 'famous' chipoltle chicken salad, had lunch while reading the newspaper, crocheted a little bit on my new Autumn project and watched the Astros get stomped by the cubbies!!! A grand slam, a 3 run homer and score was ---well, sucky for this fan!! 4 to 11 Boooooooo!!!

- - -For dinner -leftover Chili Verde and warm homemade tortillas with a salad. Pecan chocolate brownies....homemade and oooey gooey. And we got 6 movies the other day at Blockbuster video and watched so far Disturbia and Bucket List. So, will pop in a movie tonight after dinner since the ball game was a day game!

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What a fun TT. Your dad left you with a great gift of being self sufficient with car repairs. I think that's fantastic! My mother was single mom due to divorce so my dad wasn't around much to fix my cars. So I had to fix things myself. I took auto shop in high school and loved it. I'm still using these skills today. It drives my husband crazy. LOL!! Happy TT!

All I can do with a car is drive it! Oh and I can put gas in it. God forbid if I ever get a flat tire!!! lol You, my girl, impress me no end. I think it's so awesome that you know so much about cars and it was very smart of you to learn from your dad while you were growing up.

Glad to hear that your son is safe and sound from the latest storm. Sheesh, they sure keep you on your toes, don't they! We're supposed to get more thunderstoms overnight...call me weird but I love being woken up by thunder and lightning in the middle of the night...really! lol

Love the pictures you have in your collage...I'd love to live near the water like that!! xoxo

You know much, much more then I do!! That knowledge will stand you in good stead when you need work done -- even if someone else does it. I used to know how to jump the battery and check the oil, but I haven't done it in ages.

My T13 today is about things from a baby boomer's childhood. Come see if you remember any of these!

I have told you before: you never cease to amaze me :)I can only drive a car and I am glad the car insurance covers changing a flat tire (had it once and they came within 20 min to "rescue" me!) That explains why I couldn't follow all your 13 items... ::blushes::

Wow ! you really don't need a man for a car !!! That's great ! I admire women who can do that> I have a friend her father repaired cars and she gets on the nerves of all mechanics because she knows at least the same if not more !

Gday Anni, you are a multi talented lady.. Gees I can open the bonnet and top up the wiper washer fluid. otherwise my car goes in to the local ford place for service and costs heaps. also belong to RACV in case I need roadside assistance..

I understood very little of your TT, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it a lot. I love how working with your hands reminds you of your dad. And I wonder if the procedure for hotwiring a car changes as models change, and whether or not you keep a hand in ... Thanks for visiting my TT.

Interesting skill set! I can actually DO many of those things myself (though not all). I much prefer to let the guys at Gustafson’s take care of my car for me ;--)Thanks for sharing the photos … congrats on the excellent ‘dolphin’ find (I love a bargain myself) … and you’re a woman after my own heart with chipotle chicken salad, chili Verdi, warm homemade tortillas, and oooey gooey brownies with pecans … but my WW leader might balk at the point count ;--)Hugs and blessings,